Finishing machine



March 12, 1935.

Fig. 1.

w. R. BARCLAY 1,993,953

FINISHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 12, 1935. w. R. BARCLAY 1,993,953

FINISHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Mar. 12, 1935 UNHTE PTENT oFricE FINISHING MACHINE William Roderick Barclay, Leicester, England,

assignor to UnitedShoe Machinery Oorporation, Paterson, N. J.,

Jersey a corporation of New Application August '16, 1932, Serial No. 629,047 In Great Britain September 3, 1931 16 Claims..-

This invention relates to machines for finishing bottom portions of boots or shoes (hereinafter referred to as shoes) and is exemplified herein with reference to the burnishing of the portion of the tread surface of "a shoe sole at the shank adjacent to or including the breast face of a heel to which a flap formed from the heel end of the sole is fixed.

When burnishing the tread surfaces of soles on shoes by the use of a machine such as is dis- 7 closed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,730,-

401, granted October 8, 1928, upon an application filed in the name of R. B. Woodcock, a film of heated wax is applied to the tread surface of a sole by means of a substantially cylindrical, heated, wax-applying roll; and the sole is then burnished by means of suitably shaped rotary burnishing rolls or pads and is finally presented to a rotary brush to be polished.

It is inconvenienh'if not impossible, by the use of a wax-applying roll most suitably shaped for effective action on the forepart of the shoe bottom to apply wax to the shank portion of the shoe bottom close to the heel breast. v

It has therefore been the practice of the operator of a machine such as is shown in the above-mentioned patent, topresent the shank portions of shoe bottoms to an unheated rotary pad, such as is referred to as 33 in the above-mentioned patent, in order to work the wax up to, or along the heel breast aswell as possible. Relatively little time is required in order satisfac: torily to wax and to burnish mens shoes in this Way since, owing to the comparative lowness of the heels the wax may be applied to the tread face'by a hot cylindrical roll fairly close to the breast; but the comparatively high heels on womens shoes prevent a wax applying roll of this type from being positioned at all close to the breast faces of the heels of such shoes, and in finishing Louis heeled shoes, the breast faces of the heels of which are commonly waxed and burnished, considerable difiiculty is experienced in working the wax along the; shank portion of the sole up to the heel or along the breastface with the desired uniformity. That is, it is diflicult with an unheated pad'to distribute the wax so that the finished shoe does not exhibit varying shades of color at the vicinity of the heel breast line.

In view of the above, one of the several objects of the present invention is to provide in a machine for finishing the bottom portion of a shoe, means for heatinga tool adapted for effectively and evenly waxing and burnishing the the heel breast, and also the heel breast or heel breast cover itself.

To this end, one feature of the invention consists, in a finishing machine having a rotatable burnishing tool'the operative surface of which is intersected by the axis about which it rotates, of means for heating the tool, the tool and heating means being relatively movable into and out of heat exchange relation, that is, in contact or in juxtaposition, atthe locality where work to be burnished is presented to the tool, and means for holding the tool and heating means in heat exchange relation. The invention in another aspect contemplates the provision of a heat emitting surface on the above-mentioned heating means which is shaped and arranged substantially to enclose the entire operative surface of theburnishing toolv when the tool and heating means are in heatexchange relation, whereby the heating of the tool can be effected with the utmost rapidity and without any loss of heat from the operativeportion of the tool by radiation.

As herein illustrated the heating means isnor mally yieldingly held in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool at the locality where a work piece is presented thereto, but in order to allow the'presentation of a shoe sole to the bur-' nishing tool the tool and the heating means are so mounted that they can be separated when the tool is to be used.

It is common, in machines of the type in which the invention is illustrated as embodied, to provide a tool driving means, such as a belt, which can be moved so as to be rendered effective or ineffective to rotate the tool. In View of the foregoing, another object of the invention is to utilize the movement of the heating means to control the operation of the tool driving means. I H To this end, another feature of the invention resides in the combination, with a rotary burnishing tool, means for driving the-tool, and a movable heater for the tool disposed normally in heat exchange relation thereto, of means oper ated by the movement of the heater away from the tool'for rendering said tool driving meanseffective to rotate the tool.

These and other features of the invention including certain details of construction and combination of parts, will bedescribed as embodied in an illustrated machine andpointed out in the appended claims. I

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a part of a finishing machine in which the present invention is em bodied and illustrates a burnishing pad and heating and driving means for the pad;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the construction illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an alternative form of burnishing pad and heating means therefor.

The illustrated mechanism comprises a block 10 and a support 12 which are fixed to an arm 14 by means of a screw 16 (of which the support 12 and the arm 14 correspond to the elements in the machine disclosed in the above-mentioned patent which are referred to as 35 and 36, respectively). The support 12 retains a rotating tool shaft 18 carrying at its lower end a tool, the operative surface of which is intersected at its center by the axis of the shaft 18, herein illustrated as a burnishing pad 20, having a cloth cover 22 within which is a felt cushioning pad. Near the end of the shaft 18 opposite to the pad 20 are pulleys 24 and 26, the latter of which is fixed to the shaft 18 and the former of which is arranged to rotate idly on the shaft 18.

Heating of the pad 20 in order to facilitate the spreading of a fusible wax is effected by a heater 28 the upper heat emitting face of which 30 is arranged substantially to enclose and to be complementary to the entire operative surface of the cover 22 of the pad 20 and is normally held in heat exchange relation with respect to the pad as indicated in Fig. 1, that is, in contact or in juxtaposition. It is certain therefore that regardless of variations in the operators manner of presenting work to the pad, the latter will be effectively heated at whatever locality with reference to the machine frame a work piece to be burnished is presented thereto.

The heater 28 is carried by an arm 32 which is mounted on a rock shaft 36 rotatably carried at the lower end of the block 10. A spring 38 connecting the block 10 and a hook 40 attached to the rock shaft 36 tends normally to swing the arm 32 in a counterclockwise direction and hence to urge the heater 28 toward the pad 20 and to hold the heater and pad in the relation in which they are illustrated in Fig. 1. The proximity of the heater 28 and the operative surface of the pad 20 may be adjusted by means of an eccentric stop 42 arranged to abut 9. lug 44 extending downwardly from the block 10 toward the pad 20. The stop 42 is rotatably mounted in the arm 32 and can be turned in order to limit the movement of the heater 28 toward the tool at any desired point by means of a knurled knob 46 fixed to the shank of the stop 42. A spring Washer 48 is interposed between the knob 46 and the portion of the arm 32 adjacent thereto in order frictionally to hold the eccentric stop 42 in any position of adjustment. The heater 28 may be angularly adjusted with respect to the pad 20 in any direction by the use of the connections between it and the arm 32 now to be described. A rod 50 extends between cars 52' on the heater 28 and also passes through the head of a stud 54 which is received in the end of the arm 32 and can be clamped in any desired position of adjustment in the arm by means of a set screw 56. Set screws 58 and 60 are also provided for clamping the rod 50 with respect to the stud 54, and the rod 50 to the heater 28, respectively. If desired, a pad 62 (Fig. 4) having a convexly curved operative surface may be used instead of the pad illustrated in Fig. 1 and a heater 64, having a heat emitting surface shaped substantially to conform to the operative surface of the pad 62 and also to enclose it when they are disposed in heat exchange relation, may be made integral with the arm 32. Heat is supplied to the heaters 28 and 64 by electric resistance units 66 encased within the heaters.

The arm 32 can be swung in a clockwise direction, (Fig. l) in order to allow the presentation of a shoe to the pad, by means of a treadle-operated rod 68 which is connected to an arm 70 fixed to the rock shaft 36. When the treadle rod 68 is thus operated after the pad 20 has been heated to the desired extent by means of the heater 28, a belt 72 is moved from the idling pulley 24 to the driving pulley 26 by means of a shifter '74 supported on the block 10 by a screw 76. The shifter '74 is thus operated by a link '78 the lower end of which is connected to an arm which is also fixed to the rock shaft 36. Similarly when the heater 28 is swung from its dotted line position in Fig. 1 to that indicated in full lines in this figure, as a result of the operation of the spring 38, the shifter '74 is swung in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 3) to move the belt 72 from the driving pulley 26 onto the idling pulley 24 thereby allowing the pad 20 to stop rotating.

A pad of either of the above types, heated by a device such as is above described, maybe used in different ways in the waxing and burnishing of the tread face or tread face and heel breast of a shoe. It may be used actually to apply wax to that part of the tread face adjacent to the heel breast'or up to and along the breast of a Louis heel which cannot be reached by the cylindrical wax applying rool or it may merely be used to work the wax applied by the cylindrical roll up to the heel breast or up to and along the heel breast of :3. Louis heel as is hereinbefore referred to. The fact that the pad is heated allows the working of the wax up to or up to and along the heel breast being effected much more readily than if the pad were cold since the heated pad melts or keeps melted the wax during the working of the wax up to or up to and along the heel breast. This latter use of the pad may be effective on mens shoes, to which the wax can be applied fairly close to the heel breast by the cylindrical wax applying roll. However, on womens shoes, having straight breasted or Louis heels, to which the wax cannot be applied close to the heel breast, or to the breast face itself of a Louis heel, by the cylindrical wax applying roll owing to the height of the heel, the best results may be diflicult to obtain unless the wax is actually applied to the tread face close to the heel breast.

In the use of a machine similar to that described in the above-mentioned patent having a heated pad, of suitable kind for the type of work to be operated upon, such as is hereinbefore described, which pad is used to apply wax to the tread face or tread face and heel breast of a shoe, the tread face is first presented to the wax applying roll (referred to as 1 in said patent) and wax is applied to the tread face as close as possible to the heel breast. The shoe is then quickly transferred to the pad 20 disclosed herein by which, when the heater 28 has been moved out of the way and the pad caused to be driven as hereinbefore described, wax (applied at some previous time to the pad and melted on it as a result of the recent contact or juxtaposition of the heating device) is applied to the tread face up to the heel breast or in Louis heeled work along the breast. The shoe is then quickly transferred to the polishing roll (referred to as 12 in said specification) and the tread face is burnished surface of the tool and disposed normally in heat by this roll as far as possible. 'Thetread face in the shank and heel breast. of a Louis heel may then be burnished by the'shank burnishing roll (referred to. as 13 in said patent) and the whole tread face then finally presented bit by bit to the brush (referred to, as 29 in the above=mentioned patent) for a final polishing.

The tread face close up to the heel breast or along the breast face of a Louisheel may be burnished by the pad afterthe'wax on the pad has been applied to the tread face or a second and similarly heated pad maybe provided on the machine in which case one pad may be used for applying wax and'the other for burnishing. It is found however that insome instances, for example when mens shoes are being operated upon, that sufficient burnishing close to the breast face of the heel may be accomplished by means of to the merely heated pad and thewax is spread thereby up to the heel breast. The tread face is then burnished and brushed'as above described by the burnishing rolls and brush (referred to as 12, 13 and 29 respectively in the above-mentioned patent). It will be understood that when the heating device is in operative position it preferably makes actual contact with the fabric covered face of the pad, the concave recess in the face of the heating device providing a close-fitting heated cup in which the whole of the operative face of the pad is received.

Having thus described my invention, what I now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool the operative surface of which is intersected by the axis about which the tool rotates, means for heating the tool, said tool and heating means being relatively movable into and out of heat exchange relation, and means for holding the tool and heating vmeans normally in heat exchange relation at the locality where work to be burnished is presented to the tool. I

2. In a finishing machine, a burnishing tool, means for heating the tool, yielding means arranged normally to hold said heating means in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool at the locality where a shoe to be burnished is presented thereto, and operator-controlled means for separating the heating means and the tool to allow the presentation of the shoe to the tool.

3. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool the operative surface of which is intersected by the axis of rotation of the tool, a heater arranged to swing into and out of heat exchange relation with respect to the tool at the locality where work is presented thereto, and an op crater-controlled rod for moving said heater away from said tool.

4. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool, a heater arranged to swing toward and away from the tool at the locality where the work is presented thereto, means for adjustably limiting the proximity of the heater to the tool, and an operator-controlled rod connected to said heater for operating it.

5. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool, means for heating the tool shaped and arranged substantially to enclose the operative exchange relation with respect thereto, and

means for movingthe heating means away from the tool to allow the presentation of a work piece thereto.

6. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool the operative surface of which extends com- I the entire operative surface 'ofsaid tool, and

means for yieldingly holding the heater. in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool.

7. In a finishing machine, a burnishing tool mounted for rotation about an axis which is substantially normal to the operative surface of the tool, means for heating the tool having a heat emitting surface shaped and arranged substantially to enclose the operative surface of the tool, means constructed and arranged normally to h'old'the heater and tool in heat exchange relation, andoperator controlled means for separating the heater and the tool to allow the presentation of a shoe to the tool. 3

8. In a finishing machine, a burnishing tool, a heater for the burnishing tool disposed normally in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool at the locality where work is presented thereto, and means for moving said heater away from the tool in order to allow the presentation of a shoe thereto.

9. In a finishing machine, a burnishing tool, means for heating the tool constructed and arranged completely to enclose the operative surface of the tool at the locality where work to be burnished is presented thereto and movable into and out of heat exchange relation with respect thereto, means for yieldingly urging said heating means toward the tool, and operator-controlled.

means for moving the heating means away from the tool.

10. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool the operative surface of which is substantially normal to the axis of rotation of the tool, a rotatably mounted heater having a heat emitting surface shaped and arranged substantially to enclose the entire operative surface of the tool, means for operating the heater toward and away from the tool, and an adjustable stop for limiting the proximity of the heater and the tool when they are in heat exchange relation.

11. In a finishing machine, aburnishing tool, a heater for the tool arranged to swing toward and away from the tool and having a heat emitting surface which substantially encloses the operative face of the tool when the heater and tool are in heat exchange relation, means arranged normally to urge said heater toward said tool, and means for adjustably limiting the proximity of said heater and tool when they are in heat exchange relation.

12. In a finishing machine having a rotary burnishing tool and means for driving the tool, in combination, means for heating the tool disposed normally in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool at the locality where the work is presented thereto, operator controlled means for moving said heater away from the tool to allow the presentation of a work piece thereto, and means operated by the movement of said heaterv away from the tool for rendering said tool driving means effective to rotate the tool.

13. In a finishing machine, a burnishing tool,

meansfor driving the tool, a heater for the tool respect to the tool at the locality where the work is presented thereto, and means operated by the movement of the heater away from the tool for rendering said tool driving means effective to drive the tool.

14. In a finishing machine having a rotary burnishing tool and power-operated means for driving the tool, means for controlling the said tool driving means, a heater mounted for movement toward and away from the tool, an adjustable stop carried by said heater for limiting its movement toward said tool, yielding means for normally holding the heater in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool, operator-controlled means for moving the heater away from the tool, and connections between said heater and said controlling means arranged to render said tool driving means effective or ineffective as the heater is moved away from or toward the tool respectively.

15. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool, means for driving the tool adapted to be moved between an idling and a tool driving position, means for shifting said tool driving means between its said idling and tool driving positions, a heater for the tool the heat emitting surface of said heater being shaped and arranged to cover said tool at the locality at which work is presented thereto, means constructed and arranged normally to hold the heater in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool, means connected to said heater for causing said shifting means to hold said tool driving means in its idling position when said tool and heater are in heat exchange relation, and means for moving the heating means away from the tool thereby to facilitate the presentation of a work piece thereto.

16. In a finishing machine, a rotary burnishing tool, means for driving the tool adapted to be positioned in idling or driving relation with respect thereto, means for controlling the position 15 of the tool driving means, a heater for the tool, a spring arranged normally to hold the heater in heat exchange relation with respect to the tool, a link connecting the heater and the said controlling means whereby the tool driving means 20 

